Kenyans to pay Ksh 100 to get their ID’s replaced

The Interior ministry has re-introduced application fee for replacing a national identity (ID) card in a move likely to boost government’s non-tax revenue streams .Kenyans seeking to replace their national identity cards will now have to pay Ksh.100 after the government reintroduced the fee which had been scrapped in 2012. The service had been free since 2012 when the then Sh300 fee, which had been introduced in 2011 by the then Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’, was waived to encourage registration of voters ahead of the 2013 General Election.
The Immigration department under which issuance of passports, visas, work or residence permits and national IDs falls — is one of the biggest source of non-tax revenue for the government. The department collected about Sh10.5 billion in 2016, principal secretary for Immigration Gordon Kihalangwa told the National Assembly’s committee on Security late last month.
Fred Matiang’i, the Interior secretary, directed the National Registration Bureau to start levying Sh100 for replacement of lost, torn, worn out or mutilated IDs.The amount will not be charged on persons applying for an ID card for the first time.
The notice takes effect from Thursday, March 15, 2018.
When one is seeking to replace their ID card, they are required to submit a police abstract from any police station and a copy of the lost card or the ID number while those with unserviceable ones must surrender it to a registration officer and apply for a renewal, which takes about 10 days.